Breaking news! Nearly four years after budget caps imposed by Congress began to modestly rein in runaway spending at the Pentagon, the sky hasn't fallen. In fact, none of the dire predictions of Pentagon contractors -- from mass layoffs to a collapse of the U.S. military -- have come true.

Memorial Day is, by federal law, a day of prayer for permanent peace. But is it possible to honestly pray for peace while our country is far and away number one in the world in waging war, military presence, military spending and the sale of weapons around the world?

Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) has not been demonstrated to work effectively. It pushes China and North Korea to spend more money on more missiles to overwhelm THAAD (just as the U.S. is moved to spend more money on missile upgrades to counteract the missile defense of other countries). And it is a poor substitute for arms-control negotiations.

As a key first step to shining a light on dark money -- election-related funds whose source remains secret -- the president should issue an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their election-related spending.

The first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base in January, 1966. A total of thirty-two Blackbirds served until 1998, never succumbing to enemy action.

If there's one thing we should have learned over the past 13 years of war, it's that war is good business for those in the business of war. Unfortunately, while profits for the Pentagon's contractors increase, so does the cost to taxpayers in billions in waste, fraud, and abuse. As America embarks on yet another war in the Middle East, Congress needs to act now to stop this unjustified bonanza for the Pentagon's contractors. The most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan offer an ominous example about what can happen when the rush to war is met with sharp spending increases coupled with little to no oversight or fiscal restraint.

For many years, I have been anticipating the start of a revolution in the satellite market, in which the majority of the satellites built and launched would be of the micro, nano, pico, and femto variety.

There's finally a state budget surplus, and it's reserved for an out-of-state corporation, not the 9 million people living in poverty. Under total Democratic control, California has just approved $420 million in corporate tax breaks for defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

If we can develop a better system to engage, empower and enable our children to innovate faster than our world systems decay, then our kids could not only save our world, they could reinvent our future!

Just as we have learned to recycle paper, glass, iron, steel, even water, we must now also learn to recover these new elements as well, mine their density and availability, and invent a new conduct toward sustaining the value of these most precious metals already in hand.

I learned over the years that huge buildings with beanbag chairs and dog-sitting stations do not make a company. It is the people who make the company, not the fluff. Think about where you work now, and understand where your daily motivations lie.

If the Council votes to block the planes from being based in Burlington, that won't kill the $1.5 trillion F-35 taxpayer ripoff by itself. But it will set a crucial precedent. It will prove that the F-35 is politically vulnerable.